The invention relates to a plug connector and a method for mounting a plug connector.
Conventional plug connectors typically comprise at least one plug-in contact provided for being connected with a complementary plug connector, and comprising at least one connection contact provided for being connected with a conductor.
In such a plug connector, the plug-in contact is usually soldered with the connection contact during mounting. This does ensure a reliable electrical connection between the two contacts, but production costs are increased thereby. Plug connectors are also known, in which the plug-in contact or the connection contact is provided with a jack and the other contact part is provided with a pin which can be inserted into the jack. This, however, makes possible a plug connection only if a socket is used as plug-in contact.
The object of the invention is to further develop a plug connector and a method for its mounting such that low production costs arise whilst at the same time maintaining a reliable electrical connection between the two contacts. Furthermore, the plug connector is intended to allow a modular concept, so that a wide field of application can be covered with few components.
The invention provides a plug connector comprising a first insulating body, at least one connection contact which is arranged in the first insulating body and is provided for being connected with a conductor, a second insulating body and at least one plug-in contact which is arranged in the second insulating body and is provided for being connected with a complementary plug connector. The plug-in contact and the connection contact are connected with each other in an electrically conductive manner by a plug connection. The plug connection is formed by two elastic tabs provided on one of the contacts and cooperating with the other of the contacts. Due to their elasticity, the two elastic tabs allow to maintain a desired contact force between the plug-in contact and the connection contact over long periods of time. This contact force is higher than with the use of socket and pin, as there appears a linear or even punctiform contact, instead of an areal contact as it occurs in prior art. The plug-in tab may be formed with particularly low expenditure, if the corresponding contact is a flat contact which, for instance, is stamped from a sheet metal, for instance a piercing contact which serves as connection contact for a cable to be connected with the plug connector.
A particularly high flexibility during manufacture results from the use of the plug connection between the connection contact and the plug-in contact. Depending on the desired embodiment of the plug connector, the two contacts can be inserted into each other in longitudinal direction or also at a right angle to each other.
It is preferably provided for that the insulating body is provided with at least one guiding pin which ensures the correct alignment of the insulating body, so that a defined polarization of connection and plug-in contacts relative to each other is reliably maintained.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention it is provided for that one of the insulating bodies is the housing of the plug connector and the other insulating body is an insert piece which is received in the housing. A particularly low-cost production results from this design, because the two insulating bodies have only to be equipped with the corresponding contacts and finally the one insulating body has to be inserted into the other; a latching connection may be used for fixing the insulating body in the housing. On pushing in of the insulating body, the plug-in and the connection contacts are inserted into each other without further steps being necessary. This type of mounting was not possible hitherto, because the connection and the plug-in contacts had to be soldered to each other during mounting.
According to an alternative preferred embodiment of the invention it is provided for that the two insulating bodies are arranged in a separate housing. In this embodiment, too, a particularly low-cost mounting is possible; the two insulating bodies have only to be pushed into the housing, a latching connection being optionally provided by means of which the insulating bodies latch in place in the housing. Upon pushing in the insulating bodies, the connection and the plug-in contacts are automatically inserted into each other, so that the electrically conductive connection is produced between them.
According to a further preferred embodiment the two insulating bodies are embedded by injection molding, so that a housing is formed. In this way the two insulating bodies can be inseparably connected to each other and to the housing; at the same time there is a large freedom with respect to the design of the housing.
Preferably an adapter is provided into which the plug-in contact and the connection contact are inserted. This adapter acts in the nature of a mounting support, in which the plug-in and the connection contacts are reliably received, prior to embedding the insulating bodies and the contacts received therein by injection molding. Due to the contacts being held in the adapter, the preassembled unit, which consists of the two insulating bodies inserted in the adapter with their contacts, can be reliably handled during mounting, without facing the danger that the connection and plug-in contacts, which are inserted into each other, detach from each other.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the sub-claims.